Saving the Bush Stone-Curlew Burhinus grallarius

The Bush Stone-Curlew, one of Australia's most endangered birds, is getting another lease on family life thanks to a new recovery program in one of the species' key habitats.

The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, together with local organisations and landowners, has launched the project in the area adjacent to the Weddin Mountain National Park near Grenfell, NSW. This area is one of the largest patches of Bush Stone-curlew habitat within the region and a potential reintroduction site.

"The Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius) is a most unusual looking bird with a lifestyle to match. They are nocturnal, social birds with a distinctive call that earned them the nick-name of the 'wailing-baby birds'. The birds call and answer in groups. One bird starts and the other join in one by one until they all fall silent and then start all over again", explains Leonie Gale, CEO of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife.

Scientists use this calling behaviour to monitor them in the wild. Rather than trying to spot a perfectly still, camouflaged bird in the pitch black. They play a recording of the call at night and simply wait for the birds to answer.

"The curlews are nocturnal, ground dwelling birds with long legs and huge eyes which look out for danger in the dark, who duck and freeze close to the ground when a predator approaches - but don't flee.  While this strategy has protected generations of curlews from native predators, it is no match for introduced foxes. We know the birds are still in the area, but because of the foxes their breeding success has been extremely limited", she said. 

To improve the curlew chicks' chance of survival, the Foundation funded a strategic landscape-based fox baiting of State Forest land and farmland.

The project aims to improve existing fox baiting programs by including surveys to determine fox numbers, closing fox migration corridors and identifying and protecting potential reintroduction sites for bush stone-curlew populations. A community education program informs local landholders about the programs outcomes and techniques and encourages farmers to undertake fox control as standard practice on their land.

This program is currently funded through private donations from Foundation supporters and through a grant by the Norman Wettenhall Foundation.

The Foundation gratefully accepts donations to continue the program.

Image: © Ralf Regeer

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